In general, a vibration generator includes an actuating shaft, a partial section of which is longitudinally disposed in a housing and which is exposed at opposite sections thereof to the outside, the ends of the exposed sections of the actuating shaft being connected to external objects such as hoppers, pipes or the like.
When fluid such as compressed air is supplied to the inside of the housing from the outside, the housing collides with an actuating shaft while repeatedly moving in a reciprocating manner due to the structure of an internal fluid flow path, thereby repeatedly transmitting vibrations to the external objects.
Conventional vibration generators are constructed such that only one end of an actuating shaft protrudes from a housing and is connected to an external object, that is, such that the entire vibration generator is suspended from the external object via the one end of the actuating shaft.
Such a structure, in which the whole vibration generator is connected to an external object via only one end of the actuation shaft, is subjected to a bending moment due to gravity acting on the portion other than the connected portion thereof if the vibration generator is connected to the external object while being horizontally oriented.
When this condition is maintained for a long time, the actuating shaft may be deformed or broken, thereby shortening the service life. Furthermore, since the bending moment is concentrated on the portion of the actuating shaft that is connected to the external object, it is difficult to implement a reliable connection to the external object.
In addition, since the conventional vibration generator is constructed such that only one end of the actuating shaft protrudes and is connected to an external object, as described above, it is inevitable that the vibration generated from the vibration generator is output only in one direction, thereby making it difficult to transmit the vibration to external objects other than the one external object.
Accordingly, respective vibration generators have to be connected to external objects in accordance with respective work environments, thereby resulting in economic loss.
In addition to the problem with the connecting structure between the actuating shaft and an external object, the conventional vibration generator, in which the end of an external fluid supply tube is connected to a housing so as to allow external fluid to be supplied through a supply hole formed in the housing, has the following problems.
In the connection of the fluid supply tube to the housing, there is no other choice but to connect the fluid supply tube in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal moving direction of the housing. Therefore, since the load generated during the longitudinal movement of the housing is concentrated on the connected portion between the fluid supply tube and the housing, there is a great risk of breakage of the connected portion.